The last time Hollywood attempted its own version of iconic Japanese character Godzilla, the result was Roland Emmerich’s notoriously awful 1998 boondoggle. This time around, the giant monster has been entrusted to director Gareth Edwards, whose 2010 indie horror movie Monsters featured both creepy moments and engaging character development. Previews show a more intense, serious take on the city-destroying creature, and with a cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn and Elizabeth Olsen, Edwards’ Godzilla has a good chance of being just as smart and complex as his previous low-budget work. —Josh Bell

Cloud Atlas was admittedly a bust, but the Wachowskis remain two of the most aggressively visionary filmmakers in Hollywood, and Jupiter Ascending, their latest, is the first film they’ve made since the Matrix trilogy that they wrote themselves from scratch. Set in a sci-fi future, it stars Mila Kunis as a janitor who discovers that she may be the universe’s rightful queen. That synopsis doesn’t sound especially original (indeed, it smacks of young-adult fiction), but it’s not like the Wachowskis to tip their hand, and odds are they have a few surprises in store, as well as their usual eye-popping images. —Mike D’Angelo

Hercules

Hercules (July 25)

Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell. Directed by Brett Ratner.

The mythological hero takes on a dangerous warlord.

Why you should be excited about it: The Rock was obviously destined to play Hercules.

Why you should be dreading it: It looks only marginally better than the Kellan Lutz The Legend of Hercules movie from earlier this year.

Critic’s pick: Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1)

Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista. Directed by James Gunn.

So far, all of Marvel’s superhero movies have fed into the Avengers franchise, but while Guardians of the Galaxy still has ties to the overall Marvel cinematic universe, it stands on its own, introducing a new team of space-faring heroes that includes a talking raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and a sentient tree (voiced by Vin Diesel). Writer-director James Gunn has made some offbeat genre movies (Slither, Super) and got his start working for B-movie factory Troma, so he should be able to bring a different, bolder sensibility to the typical Marvel house style. —J.B.

For 12 years, even as he worked steadily on other movies, Richard Linklater set aside a couple of weeks annually to shoot a bit of footage on a project that would depict a child growing up in “real time,” with the actor aging alongside the character. The result, Boyhood, provides the paradoxical impression of watching slow-motion time-lapse footage, mostly ignoring big moments in order to focus on fleeting impressions as the protagonist (newcomer Ellar Coltrane) metamorphoses from a 6-year-old kid to a college freshman. It’s a delicate, beautifully observed character study—of an entire family, not just a boy. Not to be missed. –M.D.

Wish I Was Here

Wish I Was Here (July 18 limited; Las Vegas release TBD)

Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin. Directed by Zach Braff.

A husband and father takes stock of his life and career.

Why you should be excited about it: Braff makes his long-awaited return to writing and directing for the first time since Garden State.

Why you should be dreading it: Braff undercut the fan passion of his Kickstarter campaign by partnering with a Hollywood production company for financing, and the movie itself might turn out to be similarly cynical.